Engineering R&D

With new trends, technologies and rising consumer expectations, it’s quite a challenge for organizations to adapt to changes that make the difference between profitability and negative returns. Today, it’s not enough for developers and manufacturers to include the necessary features in a new product. They must anticipate market changes and shift quickly to meet the needs of the masses. Shrinking product development cycles, support for older products, cost optimization and differentiated products to attract customers are pushing companies to adapt to changes in the shortest possible time.

Mindtree’s engineering research and development services help transform your product vision into successful real-world designs through engineering expertise and ecosystem partnerships. Our solutions, accelerators, frameworks and proven building blocks reduce product risks and ensure faster time-to-market. They also aid in cost-optimized sustenance of legacy products and enable clients to focus on the core business of developing new products.

To strengthen technology expertise, Mindtree’s engineering services continues to invest in a variety of areas including Bluetooth, and the Internet of Things. We also ensure continuous training and certification for our technical workforce to build and sustain expertise. We offer flexible business models to help your organization keep pace with today’s changing marketplace and achieve greater profitability.

Here’s how Mindtree’s engineering research and development offerings help organizations convert visions into successful products:

Short-range Wireless: We have licensable Bluetooth Intellectual Property (IP) products including EtherMind and BlueLite. We provide high-end consulting, platform integration, porting, system and interoperability testing services for Bluetooth and WiFi technologies to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and semiconductor companies.

Embedded Intelligence: We help OEMs make the best use of hardware to enable features, provide best-in-class usability and continuous improvement. Our expertise includes system integration, platform software, protocol engineering, product realization and application development. We also deliver specialized services for post-silicon validation, multimedia, infotainment and automation. These services address industry segments including Smart Premises, Automotive, Enterprise Hardware and Wearable Electronics. We provide software engineering service across all layers covering Board Support Package, Device Drivers, Middle Layer and Applications, with expertise over a variety of Real Time Operating Systems (RTOS) including Linux, Android, FreeRTOS, QNX, Windows, etc.

Convert vision into innovative, successful products

Partner with a leader in short-range wireless technology

The Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to grow to 26 billion installed units by 2020 according to Gartner Inc., an almost 30-fold increase from 0.9 billion in 2009. These units include a wide range of devices like wearables, sensor nodes, medical devices and gateways; most of them having some form of short range wireless connectivity through protocols such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, NFC and Zigbee. Connectivity in conventional devices like mobile phones, automobiles, audio devices like headsets and Wi-Fi routers is well established and will grow as these devices become ubiquitous.

In order to address this market effectively, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), Original Design Manufacturers (ODMs) and semiconductor enterprises need to achieve cost effectiveness, faster time-to-market and first-time-right approach for their products. The challenge of implementing new use cases with minimal power consumption and low memory footprint is making it increasingly difficult to produce competitive products.

These pain points can be addressed by proven technology components and domain expertise. Mindtree has been in this space for over a decade and has serviced customers across various geographies and product segments. We have developed our own IP for Bluetooth technology which gives customers a jump start in their product development.

Mindtree’s short-range wireless offerings focus on the following key markets:

High-end consulting: Our services are currently anchored around the latest Bluetooth technologies -Bluetooth Smart and Bluetooth Smart Ready for versions 4.1 and 4.0. This offering is suitable for companies like automotive OEMs and apparel manufacturers, whose core business is significantly different from connectivity-related technologies. Mindtree offers architecture and roadmap consulting services along with benchmarking of third-party solutions.

Licensable intellectual properties: We provide the latest and most comprehensive intellectual property offerings in the Bluetooth technology space. Our portfolio includes both silicon IP as well as software IP.

Platform integration: We provide platform integration services to semiconductor companies who need to maintain same or similar connectivity options across multiple product lines or SoCs. Our services include porting of connectivity stacks like Bluetooth and WiFi onto different processor and operating system platforms.

Productization and sustenance support: We provide productization and sustenance support to OEMs who manufacture connectivity-based equipment including headsets, automotive infotainment units, wireless speakers, etc. This service includes application development and integration with sub-systems like audio and persistent storage. We also offer system validation and interoperability testing.

Go to market faster with the most innovative chips

Rapid evolution of Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) is driven by the constant challenge of developing first-pass silicon in short time-to-market spans, while keeping development costs low. Our VLSI practice, with a strong focus on innovation and led by an expert engineering team, provides end-to-end semiconductor services that effectively address customer challenges.

We bring several years of experience and deep expertise in the verification continuum—from intellectual property (IP) to system, including all intermediate stages of verification with exposure to various customer and industry-standard methodologies. We have proven expertise in verifying multi-million gate System on Chips (SoCs) and sub-systems across technology segments including mobility, wireless, automotive and multimedia. We constantly upgrade our team’s skills in latest tools, technologies and methodologies.

Our strong Analog Layout team is equipped to take complete ownership of your organization’s analog macros migration needs. Customers migrating their analog designs across foundries or process nodes have found us to be an effective low-cost, high quality alternative. We have successfully supported development of Analog macros for foundry Process Design Kits (PDKs) and nodes, including cutting edge Ultra-Deep Submicron (UDSM) nodes.

With a decade of significant investments in engineering complex IPs, We are one of the leading providers of Bluetooth silicon IP. With expertise and experience in sustaining complex protocol IPs, we are well-positioned to support sustenance needs of IP groups in semiconductor companies. Our team has worked on multiple connectivity, security and communication IPs with assured IP quality. Mindtree can be a Center of Excellence (CoE) for complex customer IPs, including development and verification for sustenance and feature enhancements, SoC integration, post-silicon validation and customer support.

We have delivered multiple first-pass SoCs, with complete ownership from specification to silicon. With focus on the emerging, high-volume market of wearable devices and Internet of Things, we deliver derivative engineering services that enable quick time-to-market and concurrent product delivery. Our investment in a reference wearable device SoC platform is a significant effort to create a unique team, with deep understanding required to develop SoC solutions for this market with cost, power and performance tradeoffs.

Develop new platforms faster with our embedded intelligence experts

Rapid technology advances has led to significant increase in the number of connected devices with higher computing power and capabilities, all available at lower costs. While more computing power and connectivity helps original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) bring new features to devices, it is extremely challenging to make the best use of the hardware to enable features, provide best-in-class usability and continuous improvement. Mindtree’s Embedded Intelligence group delivers expert services and capabilities to help OEMs realize new products faster and with improved quality.

With more than 14 years of experience working with semiconductor and product manufacturing companies, our Embedded Intelligence team has contributed to a large number of product realization activities and have long term associations with leading global companies. We offers ownership of the product from conceptualization to delivery of ready-to-manufacture solutions.

Our expertise extends from software stack to board support packages, device drivers, system software and application development and integration and customization services. Our experts have developed solutions for home infotainment, in-vehicle infotainment, navigation, building automation, video surveillance, switches, routers and data center solutions.

Our embedded intelligence services include:

Platform engineering: As the number of features required on any device continues to increase, ensuring sufficient resources and usability of every feature requires right structuring and optimal implementation of the required services. Our team works right from product requirements to ensure that the platform provides the right capabilities to applications. Our Platform Software group provides services for board support packages, firmware development, device driver software, Real Time Operating System (RTOS) porting (Android, Linux, QNX, Windows Embedded, VxWorks, FreeRTOS), and system software.

System integration: We help companies focus on core solutions with our system integration services to identify third-party and open source solutions as well as software components to develop high-quality products. With rich experience derived from working on various products, Our experts combine domain, technology and engineering skills to identify and integrate the best components to drive successful product development.

Application development, porting and sustenance: Developing applications on embedded devices and providing the best user experience is always a challenge. The various types of devices coupled with advancements in display and input technologies add to the challenge. Our expertise in technology, UI frameworks and user experience design enables superior application development on a variety of embedded devices. Our solutions drive a wide range of products including wearable devices, dashboard units, navigation devices, smart phones, diagnostic devices and routers.

Testing: We offer a complete menu of embedded intelligence testing services. Our services include post-silicon validation and test automation as well as platform, module, integration, product and pre-certification testing.

Enabling reliable Bluetooth solutions

Mindtree brings in a unique blend of proven market solutions in Bluetooth to help clients effectively address their most difficult challenges.

A frontrunner in the short-range wireless space for over a decade, we provide the latest and most comprehensive Bluetooth technology solutions, covering both silicon IP and software stacks. Our solutions are highly robust and interoperable.

We are a leading provider of Bluetooth IP and consulting services for semiconductor companies and OEMs. We have invested over 500 person-years in Bluetooth technology since the year 2000. Over the years, we have consistently certified generations of our silicon and software IP from v1.1 to v4.1 by the Bluetooth SIG.

Our leadership in Bluetooth technology is demonstrated by our enduring commitment to interoperability. We are the only IP provider in the world today that has attended over 30 UnPlugFests—global interoperability events hosted by the Bluetooth SIG. Our v2.1+EDR, v4.0 and 4.1 solutions have been tested with all of the world’s leading Bluetooth semiconductor vendors who provide their own solutions. These solutions have also been tested with a number of leading OEMs across consumer, audio, automotive, accessories and mobile phones. .

Our IPs are designed to consume an optimal amount of resources in terms of Million Instructions per Second (MIPS), memory and gate count. We offer qualified consulting, IP customization, porting, integration, pre-qualification and interoperability testing services around the IP.

Our IPs are available as two licensable products.

EtherMind is our software IP for both Bluetooth Smart and Bluetooth Smart Ready which consists of stack, profiles and application frameworks for Bluetooth versions 4.1, 4.0 and 2.1+EDR

EtherMind is our intellectual property (IP) suite for Bluetooth Smart Ready, Bluetooth Smart and Bluetooth v2.1+EDR Stack and Profiles. EtherMind is a comprehensive offering which consists of all the mandatory and optional features of the core stack and all the adopted profiles across the technology specification.

EtherMind is designed for use in sensor-based devices, cellular phones, automotive equipment, personal navigation devices, medical equipment, consumer electronics like watches, audio speakers, headsets and more. This IP has been integrated into multiple products and is designed to suit the needs of product OEMs and ODMs as well as semiconductor companies. EtherMind enables customer to reduce market risk of integrating Bluetooth in the product while accelerating the development cycle. The large base of customers is testimony of the IP’s high quality, proven reliability, functionality and portability as per the adopted Bluetooth specifications.

Bluetooth SIG qualified and market adoption

EtherMind has been listed with the Bluetooth SIG for over a decade now. It has undergone certification from v1.1 standard through the latest v4.0 standard. Please refer to sidebar for qualification listings of the 4.0 Bluetooth Smart Ready, 4.0 Bluetooth Smart and v2.1+EDR stack and profiles.

EtherMind ships with leading OEMs such as Garmin, NEC, Logitech and semiconductor companies like Lapis Semiconductor. It is also licensed to some of the top 10 semiconductor companies in the world as part of their semiconductor chip programs.

We are acknowledged by the Bluetooth SIG as one of the co-creators of the Bluetooth 4.0 & 4.1 specification(s). With active participation in several SIG working groups as well as previous leadership positions (Vice Chair of the Medical working group; Councilor on the Bluetooth Architecture Review Board), Mindtree’s contributions have led to several different specifications and use cases being adopted into the technology over the last 14 years. The working groups in which Mindtree has contributed include Core (CSWG), Medical, ULP, Car, Telephony, GNSS, and Multi Profile.

Portability and scalability

EtherMind is written completely in ANSI C and is designed for easy portability. The dependency of the IP on the operating system and the Bluetooth Controller is abstracted using the Operating System Abstraction Layer (OSAL) and the HCI interface. OSAL requires support only for thread/task creation, synchronization primitives and memory management from the underlying operating system. Only the OSAL layer and platform-specific layers (UART driver, writing to persistent storage, timer, etc.) implementation needs to change for a specific platform. The OSAL for most commercial and free embedded operating systems is already available with Mindtree.

The various modules in the EtherMind suite are compile-time configurable to enable only necessary features and functionality, making it the most compact implementation in the industry. The code base of EtherMind remains the same, from personal navigation devices to resource-constrained devices like headsets and watches. This ensures that moving platforms and operating systems is easier and improvements and enhancements can be made available quickly across platforms.

Profile(s) support

EtherMind provides the most complete portfolio of Bluetooth SIG adopted profiles for any version of the standard. EtherMind ships with all the profiles and all the roles that are currently adopted. Mindtree also delivers any newly adopted profile within 4-6 weeks of adoption by the Bluetooth SIG as it participates in the standardization of the profile. By participating in the Bluetooth SIG working groups, we also follow the new profile definition as well as newer versions of existing profile/protocol specification. This helps us keep EtherMind aligned with the adopted version of the specifications. Please refer to qualification information for the complete list of supported profile(s) and protocol(s).

Interoperability

EtherMind is highly interoperable with current products in the market and tested at global “UnPlugFest” interoperability events hosted by the Bluetooth SIG. It is also tested for compliance using PTS and is regularly re-qualified for compliance. Mindtree participates in the definition of many specification and the corresponding test specification definition as contributor or owner. Early implementation and interoperability testing provides better understanding of the specification, and allows verification with multiple leading vendors across several UPFs and IOP events, further improving interoperability.

BlueLitE – Bluetooth Smart Controller, Digital Phy and Stack

BlueLitE is our product line of Intellectual Property offerings for Bluetooth Smart version 4.0 and version 4.1. BlueLitE is silicon proven and is currently in mass production and has been incorporated into watches from a leading Japanese OEM.

We offer all the essential components needed to complete a Bluetooth Smart solution, excluding the RF. We partner with IP providers who supply RF IP to create a complete solution. BlueLitE is composed of the following component IPs.

BlueLitE-SP is the stack and profile solution for Bluetooth® Smart. The BlueLitE-SP is designed to be portable on a variety of platforms, including 8 bit microcontrollers with minimal system resources.

BlueLitE-LP is the controller (link layer and physical layer) implementation for Bluetooth Smart. The link layer is a combined hardware-firmware implementation. In BlueLitE-LP, the time critical functions are implemented in the hardware, while the firmware takes care of complex decision-making which is invoked sometimes.

BlueLitE controller is designed for easy SoC integration with the following key design considerations.

High degree of configurability based on target application

Designed for portability across 16-bit/32-bit processors

Architecture of firmware for low foot-print and high latency tolerance

Optimized memory architecture

Easy integration with third party modem/RF enabled by flexible interfaces

Build standards-based, interoperable personal health devices

The EtherMind IEEE 11073 enables a quick and low cost route for medical tablet and sensor device OEMs to build standards-based and interoperable health systems over Personal Area Networks (PAN) or Local Area Networks (LAN).

The EtherMind IEEE 11073 stack from Mindtree is an optimized, abstracted and layered solution, certified by Continua Health Alliance (Certification IDs 38 and 39). It supports multiple platforms and is designed to address the needs of OEMs in the medical, health and fitness industries. The EtherMind IEEE 11073 is adaptable to small sensor devices as well as larger collector/monitoring equipment hosts such as laptops, smartphones, tablets and PCs, which interact with each other using wired or wireless PAN or LAN.

EtherMind IEEE 11073 manager opens up exciting possibilities in connected health. It performs the managerial role in specialized devices such as blood glucose meters, pulse oxymeters, weighing scales, cardiovascular fitness and activity monitors and others devices. In devices like mobile phones, PCs and tablets, the IEEE 11073 manager provides interfaces to plug in a GUI or MMI, specific to the OEMs.

These IPs consist bus function models, stimulus generator, protocol monitors and appropriate routines to create individual protocols or bus function models. They also include the necessary infrastructure for test-bench generation and checking mechanisms. Any Register Transfer Level (RTL) design can be easily verified by integrating verification IPs with the test environment of the design.

We have expertise in developing verification IPs along with end-to-end design solutions. We offer complete reusable verification IP solutions for most widely used industry protocols such as Ahb2ApbBridge, AhbBusController, AhbWrapper